Role of Foreign Enterprises in the Caribbean
...natural resources. The origin of most of this investment was the United Kingdom, who accounted for forty-three percent of the world's exported manufactured goods in 1850. Between 1880 and 1930 most of the world was drawn into the international economy, and international investments grew apace. Large corporations pursued international business in banking, trading, petroleum, mining, transportation and agriculture. Multinational manufacturing corporations were producing automobiles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and a range of other products. The overall scale of FDI began to increase enormously during the second half of the 20th century as companies began locating more and more of their manufacturing and other operations in foreign countries. Within the last few decades, foreign investment has skyrocketed as countries began locating major portions of their manufacturing, sale and service enterprises in numerous other countries. Almost every nation is linked to every other through these multinational investments. Up till the 1960s, United States multinational enterprises dominated new investment, accounting for almost half of all outward investment. A major shift occurred as multinational corporations began investing in developed countries and focusing more on international manufacturing, while moving out of agriculture and public utilities in the developing world. In the 1970’s and 1980’s Japanese and European companies followed suit, placing manufacturing and assembly operations in the US. The destinations of modern FDI have become relatively geographically diverse, encompassing developing and developed countries, small nations and large. Foreign Direct Investment became prominent in the Caribbean in the 1960’s in countries such as Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados. These countries offered investors the opportunity of working in their territories by providing cheaper labour, concessions on income tax and infrastructural charges and import and exemption duties, to name a few. In return these countries expected their business environments to flourish and that eventually, locals would learn from the investors and be able to take over the businesses. By 2002 the investment climate in the Caribbean had tightened somewhat in the face of a slower pace of economic activity both locally and internationally. Conditions in the region and international trading environment had implications for investment in Barbados and other Caribbean countries. Continuing efforts by international financial authorities led to more stringent regulatory procedures which contributed to a slow down in the flow of foreign direct investment globally. Despite the challenges, the Barbados Investment development Corporation (BIDC) continued its efforts of investment promotion in the areas of technology, financial services and manufacturing. It recorded in 2002 four new companies in the area of manufacturing and services sub-sectors. In addition, an increase in the number of new companies was recorded in the financial services sector. In 2003 it recorded an expansion in the call-centre industry to six companies with two ...